Hi all (yes sadly no more 'bonjour' - we are back!)
Just an update on the plan from here for those of you who wanted to know...
I will have 2 operations as the surgeon decided that it is too risky to operate on both sides at once. The first surgery will be on my Left external iliac artery on September 15th. If all goes well with my recovery, the Right side will be operated on 6-8 weeks later. He expects that, with a good recovery, I will be able to return to work about 8 weeks after that.
Will keep you posted!
Jeanette
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Au revoir Europe...
Bonjour all
Well our trip is coming to an end. We are still in Spain on the Costa Brava, but tomorrow we head to Montpellier to return the car, then catch the TGV to Paris. We will spend some time in Paris and then a day in Singapore before returning to the 'warm' weather in Christchuch. Please have that arranged for us! I think we may be in shock with the temperatures you have been having!
It has been a good relaxing time here on the Costa Brava. We have been spending alot of time at the beach. I have even had a swimming buddy the last 2 days which has been awesome. Today was my last swim as I probably won't get to swim in Paris. So now that it is almost over, I have to say swimming is very boring! I miss the change in scenery that you get on a bike. Although in saying that, it did get slightly interesting this morning when I thought a shark had nudged my pool buoy! It turns out it was just a wave hitting it awkwardly - but it did freak me out at the time! I have been thinking a bit about sharks this past week, as we saw on the news here that a great white had attacked someone in Florida which is highly unusual. I then started to tell myself that my pool buoy could in fact look like a giant lure... my mind was playing silly tricks, but at least it forced me to get out of 1st gear and lift my game slightly!
Yesterday at the beach we had front row seats to a skydiver landing. He was having trouble with the on-shore wind, and was turning and cruising up and down the beach near where we were. Then he finally landed about 15m away from us - it was very exciting!
We have been in a hotel for the last few nights as we could only rent our apartment for the week. The Spanish guy at the desk is hilarious. He is so excited that we come from NZ and keeps asking us all about it. I think he also likes to practise his English. Every time we go anywhere we have to leave our key at the front reception - and he always says "have a nice day" when we give it to him. The other day we were in and out so many times, and every time he said "have a nice day" - even when we headed out for dinner that night. He kind of reminds me of 'Manwel' from Faulty Towers...
Jase and I seem to be back to our silly competitive ways also. Our banter the other night culminated in us both getting up out of bed in the middle of the night to have an arm wrestle! I am highly irate to say that I lost rather easily... He keeps telling me that I am "stuck in loser-ville" so I am soon to come up with something I can win...
Well I probably won't write again now before we get home... Thanks so much for reading all my waffle. We have had a fantastic trip. It may not have been as good/the same as I would have liked, but it has allowed me to do some other things that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. It has also given me the time I needed to make the right decision regarding surgery. Given how limited I am activity-wise (basically I can swim with a pool buoy, and walk slowly but not too far), Jase and I feel the right decision is to have the surgery. I hope I can get back to high level sport, but if not I at least want to be more active than I am now. I will keep using this blog to keep those of you from out of town updated on my surgeries etc.
See you all soon.
Au revior...
Jeanette
Well our trip is coming to an end. We are still in Spain on the Costa Brava, but tomorrow we head to Montpellier to return the car, then catch the TGV to Paris. We will spend some time in Paris and then a day in Singapore before returning to the 'warm' weather in Christchuch. Please have that arranged for us! I think we may be in shock with the temperatures you have been having!
It has been a good relaxing time here on the Costa Brava. We have been spending alot of time at the beach. I have even had a swimming buddy the last 2 days which has been awesome. Today was my last swim as I probably won't get to swim in Paris. So now that it is almost over, I have to say swimming is very boring! I miss the change in scenery that you get on a bike. Although in saying that, it did get slightly interesting this morning when I thought a shark had nudged my pool buoy! It turns out it was just a wave hitting it awkwardly - but it did freak me out at the time! I have been thinking a bit about sharks this past week, as we saw on the news here that a great white had attacked someone in Florida which is highly unusual. I then started to tell myself that my pool buoy could in fact look like a giant lure... my mind was playing silly tricks, but at least it forced me to get out of 1st gear and lift my game slightly!
Yesterday at the beach we had front row seats to a skydiver landing. He was having trouble with the on-shore wind, and was turning and cruising up and down the beach near where we were. Then he finally landed about 15m away from us - it was very exciting!
We have been in a hotel for the last few nights as we could only rent our apartment for the week. The Spanish guy at the desk is hilarious. He is so excited that we come from NZ and keeps asking us all about it. I think he also likes to practise his English. Every time we go anywhere we have to leave our key at the front reception - and he always says "have a nice day" when we give it to him. The other day we were in and out so many times, and every time he said "have a nice day" - even when we headed out for dinner that night. He kind of reminds me of 'Manwel' from Faulty Towers...
Jase and I seem to be back to our silly competitive ways also. Our banter the other night culminated in us both getting up out of bed in the middle of the night to have an arm wrestle! I am highly irate to say that I lost rather easily... He keeps telling me that I am "stuck in loser-ville" so I am soon to come up with something I can win...
Well I probably won't write again now before we get home... Thanks so much for reading all my waffle. We have had a fantastic trip. It may not have been as good/the same as I would have liked, but it has allowed me to do some other things that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. It has also given me the time I needed to make the right decision regarding surgery. Given how limited I am activity-wise (basically I can swim with a pool buoy, and walk slowly but not too far), Jase and I feel the right decision is to have the surgery. I hope I can get back to high level sport, but if not I at least want to be more active than I am now. I will keep using this blog to keep those of you from out of town updated on my surgeries etc.
See you all soon.
Au revior...
Jeanette
Monday, August 2, 2010
Cannes fireworks, Costa Brava...
Bonjour all (actually Hola now...),
Last Thursday we headed into Cannes to watch the fireworks... And last Thursday night we returned to Juan Les Pins having not seen them again!! This time we had gotten the day right, but as we were sitting down waiting to see them, a voice came over the sound system saying that they had been cancelled for the night due to 'technical difficulties'! Unbelievable! We had had a good night in Cannes though before this - we had looked at the shops and had a nice dinner out, so it wasn't a totally wasted trip.
The following night we headed back to Cannes, and this time it was on! Third time lucky I guess! It turned out to be well worth the wait. It was the most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen. It was all to music, and went for a good 30 mins. Gutted that Christine and Mum missed it - you guys will just have to come back someday!
We are now in Roses - a small town on the Costa Brava (North East Coast of Spain). Today there are thunderstorms so we are not really up to too much. This place is pretty nice, although not as beautiful as the French Riviera or even further down the Costa Brava Coast. We arrived on Saturday after a mega drive from Juan Les Pins. Jase and I got up early that morning so he could go running and I could go swimming before we had to sit in the car all day. The water was beautiful - glassy, and no-one else there. It made me wonder why I can't drag myself out of bed early every morning!
The drive was tedious to say the least. We took all the major toll roads as they are so much faster - although much less scenic. For some reason the traffic all over France was terrible on Saturday - it was even all over the news that night, but we are still not sure why. We were stuck in some massive traffic jams and didn't end up arriving here in Roses until after 6.30pm!
We are staying in a studio apartment in a camping ground here. It is really nice and has all we need. Yesterday we spent the whole day at the beach. I swam for 45 mins in the rough sea - definitely making it more interesting! I don't know how many times I took a mouthful of salty water! Today I was really tired and woke to Jase arriving back from an early morning run. The weather is pretty average today which is actually a nice change (as long as it is good again tomorrow!).
This afternoon we decided to go exploring at the nearby beaches and coves. This plan was foiled however when we reached the car, only to find we had a flat tyre. We put the spare tyre on and then began the saga of getting a new tyre. We stopped at several service stations, but no-one spoke any English. Luckily for us, one attendant spoke some English and directed us to a mechanic (there are none at the service stations here). When we arrived at the repair place, it was turning into a bit of a drama as he spoke no English either - then I thought I would try to speak to him in French - and 'Voila' we communicated from then on in French! I still have a long way to go, but it sure has come in handy!!
Not much more to add. We are looking forward to seeing you all again soon.
Jeanette
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